Jan. 19, 2007

Complete Results

The Fighting Illini women's gymnastics team traveled to Baton Rouge, La., Friday night to compete against the No. 14 LSU Tigers. Though they fell to the Tigers by a score of 193.850-193.300, the Illini improved their score by over two points from last week's season opener at Missouri. Sophomore Marijka Botterman won the all-around title with a career-high score of 38.925, and Cara Pomeroy tied for first place on the balance beam with a 9.825.

"As a coach, I was unsure how we were going to do after last week's performance," said Illinois head coach Bob Starkell. "Even in warm-ups I was a little nervous, but we started off great on bars and did well on three-fourths of the events. The team now has a more positive outlook for the rest of the season as a result of this meet. LSU is a tough team, and we felt like we were just as good as them tonight."

In addition to her first place finish on beam, Pomeroy also placed second on the uneven bars with a score of 9.825. Botterman and sophomore Julie Crall tied for third on the balance beam with identical scores of 9.800, helping the Illini to a team total of 48.700 on the event, which was the top event score of the evening for the Orange and Blue and was good enough to top LSU on the event.

Sophomore Kim Kruk had a solid night, finishing fourth in the all-around with a score of 38.600. Freshman Sarah Schmidt also performed well for the Illini, placing third on the floor exercise with a score of 9.775. Botterman was the top Illini finisher on the vault, with a score of 9.800 and a fourth place overall finish.

The Illini will open up their home season next Saturday, Jan. 27, when they host the Iowa Hawkeyes at Huff Hall at 7 p.m. The Illini men will also be competing at Huff Hall that night, as they host the Ohio State Buckeyes.